Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FANCY BALL, by WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FANCY BALL, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: You used to talk,' said miss mac call
Last Line: As these our fancy-dresses.
Subject(s): Authors And Authorship; Parties


'You used to talk,' said Miss Mac Call,
'Of flowers, and flames, and Cupid;
But now you never talk at all,
You're getting vastly stupid.
You'd better burn your Blackstone, Sir,
You never will get through it;
There's a Fancy Ball at Winchester, -
Do let us take you to it.'

I made that night a solemn vow,
To startle all beholders;
I wore white muslin on my brow,
Green velvet on my shoulders;
My trousers were supremely wide,
I learn'd to swear 'by Allah';
I stuck a poniard by my side,
And called myself 'Abdallah'.

Oh! a Fancy Ball's a strange affair,
Made up of silks and leathers,
Light heads, light heels, false hearts, false hair,
Pins, paint, and ostrich feathers;
The dullest Duke in all the town,
To-night may shine a droll one;
And rakes, who have not half-a-crown,
Look royal in a whole one.

[Go, call the lawyer from his pleas,
The school-boy from his Latin;
Be stoics here in ecstasies,
And savages in satin;
Let young and old forego - forget
Their labour and their sorrow,
And none - except the Cabinet -
Take counsel for the morrow.

Begone, dull care! This life of ours
Is very dark and chilly;
We'll sleep through all its serious hours,
And laugh through all its silly.
Be mine such motley scene as this,
Where, by established usance,
Miss Gravity is quite amiss,
And Madam Sense a nuisance!]

Hail, blest Confusion! here are met
All tongues, and times, and faces,
The Lancers flirt with Juliet,
The Brahmin talks of races;
And where's your genius, bright Corinne?
And where your brogue, Sir Lucius?
And, Chinca Ti, you have not seen
One chapter of Confucius.

Lo! dandies from Kamschatka flirt
With beauties from the Wrekin;
And belles from Berne look very pert
On Mandarins from Pekin;
The Cardinal is here from Rome,
The Commandant from Seville,
And Hamlet's father from the tomb,
And Faustus from the Devil.

[O sweet Anne Page! - those dancing eyes
Have peril in their splendour!
'O sweet Anne Page!' - so Slender sighs,
And what am I, but slender?
Alas! when next your spells engage
So fond and starved a sinner,
My pretty Page, be Shakspeare's Page,
And ask the fool to dinner!]

What mean those laughing Nuns, I pray,
What mean they, Nun or Fairy?
I guess they told no beads to-day,
And sang no Ave Mary;
From Mass and Matins, Priest and Pix,
Barred door, and window grated,
I wish all pretty Catholics
Were thus emancipated.

Four Seasons come to dance quadrilles,
With four well-seasoned sailors;
And Raleigh talks of rail-road bills
With Timon, prince of railers;
I find Sir Charles of Aubyn Park,
Equipp'd for a walk to Mecca;
And I run away from Joan of Arc,
To romp with sad Rebecca.

Fair Cleopatra's very plain,
Puck halts, and Ariel swaggers;
And Caesar's murder'd o'er again,
Though not by Roman daggers:
Great Charlemagne is four feet high,
Sad stuff has Bacon spoken;
Queen Mary's waist is all awry,
And Psyche's nose is broken.

Our happiest bride, how very odd!
Is the mourning Isabella;
And the heaviest foot that ever trod
Is the foot of Cinderella;
Here sad Calista laughs outright,
There Yorick looks most grave, Sir,
And a Templar waves the cross to-night,
Who never cross'd the wave, Sir.

And what a Babel is the talk!
'The Giraffe' - 'plays the fiddle' -
'Macadam's roads' - 'I hate this chalk' -
'Sweet girl' - 'a charming riddle' -
'I'm nearly drunk with' - 'Epsom salts' -
'Yes, separate beds' - 'such cronies!' -
'Good Heaven! who taught that man to valtz?' -
'A pair of Shetland ponies.'

'Lord D------' - 'an enchanting shape' -
'Will move for' - 'Maraschino' -
'Pray, Julia, how's your mother's ape?' -
'He died at Navarino!' -
'The gout by Jove is' - 'apple pie' -
'Don Miguel' - 'Tom the tinker' -
'His Lordship's pedigree's as high
As -' - 'Whipcord, dam by Clinker.'

'Love's shafts are weak' - 'my chesnut kicks' -
'Heart broken' - 'broke the traces' -
'What say you now of politics?' -
'Change sides and to your places,' -
'A five barred-gate' - 'a precious pearl' -
'Grave things may all be punn'd on!' -
'The Whigs, thank God, are' - 'out of curl!' -
'Her age is' - 'four by London!'

Thus run the giddy hours away,
Till morning's light is beaming,
And we must go to dream by day
All we to-night are dreaming;
To smile and sigh, to love and change;
Oh! in our heart's recesses,
We dress in fancies quite as strange
As these our fancy-dresses.





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